Restaurant: La Catrina

One of the worst problems my husband and I have when we're out looking for a place to eat is that we don't know where to go. We've been to almost every restaurant in our area and I have not been amazed. Those restaurants we have absolutely loved are usually gone by the end of the year. I truly hope we don't curse this new place.

We drove up the street and saw a shocking pink building with a skeleton lady on the picture. The place was called La Catrina. Being a fan of skeletons and skulls, I decided that this was the place. A catrin is a very elegant, well dressed man of money and a catrina would be the woman. It definitely caught my attention.

As we walked in, we saw this very cool, chill atmosphere. I bet the nights are awesome here for drinking with friends or a fun dinner. However, it was lunch time and we were hungry. La Catrina met us at the door as well as our server. We were immediately seated since it was somewhat empty.

We sat down and the waitress greeted us in Spanish. In fact, everything she said was in Spanish, but noting that the restaurant was a Mexican theme, it was fine. She took our drink order and quickly brought it out. Then we saw the appetizers. They had quite a selection of appetizers from chips and salsa to Abuelita's Empanadas. Empanadas for an appetizer? We had to try that. We also ordered tampiqueña steaks which came with an enmolada (it's an enchilada but with mole instead of chile sauce), beans and rice. Along with our entrees, we had a choice of soup or salad. We ordered soup. I had the Creamy Poblano Soup and my husband went for the Aztec Soup (which is simply a tortilla soup.) We were AMAZED with the soups. The Creamy Poblano Soup was an symphony in my mouth. The flavors were distinct and unique. I had never had a soup such as this one and I was so glad I had it. It was a bit spicy but definitely worth the try. My husband's Aztec Soup was an excellent example of what tortilla soups should taste like. It was a treat.

Then the meal. It felt as if the restaurant didn't put salt in any of the food and for us, that's a great thing. We don't like salt in our foods because we prefer to taste the natural combination of the food with whatever they put on it, such as the red peppers and onions. The enmolada tasted as if it had been cooked in the microwave, but my husband loved the mole. I, being a huge fan of mole, didn't like it too much, but it wasn't bad. The meat was tender and well seasoned. I added the salsa they had served with the tostadas beforehand to the rice and beans and it was good.

(From top left, clockwise: Agua de Melon, Tampiqueña Steak with the enmolada, Abuelita's Empanadas - chicken, and the Creamy Poblano Soup)

We had dessert: a slice of Tres Leches cake. It was okay, but it tasted as if it had been in the fridge for a long time.

Time came for the bill. It wasn't too expensive, but it wasn't somewhere I would eat at every week. For the price, the food was good. The atmosphere was beautiful. There were paper maché catrinas on the wall which were too beautiful. I wish I could have bought one for my home.  One day!

And so we left and said "This place was awesome!" It wasn't busy, so the food came out quickly. We would love to see it at night and see how the atmosphere is then, but the quality overall of this restaurant was great! The only problem we saw was the parking. Their parking is in the back but it's a hassle, plus the place's location is not ideal, but hopefully it gets quite a fan base that La Catrina remains in town for a long, long while.

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La Catrina

Mexican Food

$$

Pros: Beautiful Atmosphere, good service, good food. The Creamy Poblano Soup is a must-have.

Cons: Parking will be a hassle and the location is not ideal.